After set-up issues blighted Saturday's qualifying and race, Tommy Hill and Yukio Kagayama made good progress in today's racing at the eighth round of the 2010 British Superbikes Championship at Brands Hatch. Changes to the set-up on their Worx Crescent Suzukis saw Hill improve to finish with 6-4 results, while Kagayama placed 8-7. Hill's recovery helped him to maintain second place position in the BSB championship.
The team analysed their data from yesterday's qualifying and race and made changes to the GSX-Rs' set-up overnight. These yielded an immediate improvement as Hill and Kagayama placed fourth and sixth fastest in this morning's warm-up. For Hill though, his struggles in yesterday's race meant he still had to start from the fifth row for the first of today's races, on P20. With determined riding he pushed his way up to sixth by the finish and having made eighth fastest lap of the race was elevated to the second row for the final race of the weekend, joining Kagayama as sixth fastest.
The pair made a good start in the final race, for a while riding together in fifth and sixth positions. But with his improved set-up Hill found he was able to push on, gaining fourth place at two-thirds distance and was close to Michael Rutter in third when the chequered flag came out.
Tommy Hill: "It was a case of chipping away all weekend to improve the set-up. At the beginning I didn't have any feel for the front end but this has got better with each ride and in that last race I was much happier, being able to push hard and close a significant gap on Rutter from half distance.
"I'm not happy to have missed out on the podium, but from where we started it's not a bad finish. We'll have some testing before the next round at Cadwell Park so we'll be looking to regroup and put this championship back on its feet."
Yukio Kagayama: "My results this weekend are surely not enough, but we are finding improvement, my mechanics are making good work and the feeling is coming better, the speed too, and I am happy in my racing again. Now I hope we will get to see the old Yuki, the original Yuki, racing for podiums again."
Jack Valentine, team manager: "We were back on track today, after yesterday's disappointments. Tommy was still struggling to find full confidence but the changes to set-up we made did make a big difference, especially for that last race. It was just a shame he didn't get onto Michael Rutter earlier or he may have salvaged a podium today.
"The important thing is we managed to find a solution to our issues and we've managed to safeguard Tommy's and the team's championship hopes. We'll be doing some testing before Cadwell Park so we'll be looking to build on the hard work of last night and today. The important thing is we're still in this championship and we're still very much up for the fight for the title."
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship
Round Eight, Brands Hatch
Race two result:
1. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki WSB)
2. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +1.118s
3. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +3.497s
4. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +4.000s
5. James Ellison (Swan Honda) +4.189s
6. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +11.142s
7. Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +11.182s
8. Yukio Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +11.937s
9. Dan Linfoot (Motorpoint Yamaha) +15.507s
10. Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +15.637s
Race three result:
1. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki WSB)
2. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +0.563s
3. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +4.788s
4. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +6.531s
5. James Ellison (Swan Honda) +11.804s
6. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +11.910s
7. Yukio Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +13.927s
8. Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +20.929s
9. John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) +21.181s
10. Simon Andrews (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +25.089s
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after Brands Hatch:
1. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 249
2. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 242
3. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 239
4. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) 217
5. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 206
6. Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 153
16. Yukio Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 56